C^e   2£te0   Ivar. 


P  R  I V 

ATE  L  V 

P  K  i  \  T  E  D  . 

cLambribge, 
18S3. 

Pass. 

F-46401 

J<3I5 

C  ©  py      I 


FROM   THE   LIBRARY  OF 


REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM  TO 


THE   LIBRARY  OF 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


DM 

Section      &iH 


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in  2012  with  funding  from 

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JHI\   D  ly^o 


€^e  ^tejs  31m* 


AN     ENGLISH     VERSION     IN     DOUBLE 

RHYMES,    WITH    AN    ESSAY 

AND     NOTES. 


By    FRANKLIN   JOHNSON. 
1883. 


PREFACE. 

In  1S65  I  published  in  a  religious  journal 
a  translation  of  the  Dies  Iras  in  double 
rhymes.  When  the  glamour  of  composition 
had  passed  away,  the  defects  of  my  perform- 
ance were  so  apparent  that  I  determined  to 
correct  them.  I  did  not  suppose  that  the 
task  would  prove  arduous ;  but  though  so 
long  a  time  has  elapsed,  my  ideal  is  still  far 
above  my  attainment.  The  work  occupied 
my  attention  at  frequent  intervals  for  fifteen 
years,  and  I  think  that  in  few  months  of  this 
period  did  I  fail  to  make  some  progress. 
There  were  weeks  in  succession  during 
which,  both  day  and  night,  my  mind  was 
filled  with  the  stanzas.  At  such  seasons, 
the  moment  that  I  gained  a  little  leisure,  they 


4  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

would  appear  before  me  like  an  army  march- 
ing with  thundrous  cadence.  I  could  not 
have  dismissed  them  had  I  desired  ;  but  I 
did  not  wish  to  do  so.  The  verses,  like  the 
names  of  flowers,  have  a  charm  even  for 
those  who  do  not  know  their  meaning.  But 
one  familiar  with  the  sense  finds  in  them  an 
unexampled  appeal  to  the  heart,  to  the 
imagination,  to  terror,  to  hope ;  and  if  he 
engages  in  the  tantalizing  effort  to  set  forth 
in  English  their  burden  of  thought,  their 
sublime  pictures,  frequently  dashed  in  with 
a  single  word,  their  throbs  of  emotion, 
their  weird  measure,  and  their  delicate  asso- 
nances, he  falls  under  a  fascination  at  once 
awful  and  delightful.  The  occupation  has 
often  assisted  me  to  conquer  care,  and  has 
brought  me  refreshment. 

No  man  has  a  better  right  than  that  of  its 
author  to  criticise  a  production ;  and  I  am 
well  aware  how  much  my  translation  is  lack- 


THE     DIES     IRJE.  5 

ing  in  the  life  and  movement  of  the  original : 

The  marble  shows  the  form  and  face  ; 
But  who  shall  give  it  vital  grace  ? 

To  the  inherent  difficulties  of  the  task, 
recognized  by  all  who  have  attempted  it,  is 
added  now  the  necessity  of  avoiding  ground 
already  occupied  by  others  ;  and  this  requires 
great  solicitude,  so  numerous  are  the  versions, 
and  so  various  are  the  forms  of  ingenuity 
exhibited  in  their  structure. 


Cambridge,  Mass., 

November  10,  1883. 


THE   DIFFICULTIES 

WHICH    ATTEND    THE    TRANSLATION    OF    THE 
DIES    IR^E    INTO    ENGLISH. 

Versions  of  the  Dies  Ine  in  single  rhymes 
may  be  made  with  great  facility  ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  those  stanzas  which  are  most 
difficult  to  render  in  double  rhymes  are  the 
easiest  to  produce  in  the  other  form.  Take 
the  first,  for  example  : 

Day  of  wrath  !     Ah  me,  that  day  ! 
Earth  in  flame  shall  pass    away  : 
Thus  both  Psalm  and  Sibyl  say. 

But  the  versions  in  single  rhymes  lack  an 
essentia]  element  of  the  charm  which  the 
Latin  possesses,  and  are    chiefly    interesting 


b  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

because,  though  they  fail  to  give  the  cadance 
and  the  feeling  of  the  original,  they  may  be 
made  quite  literal.  I  dismiss  them,  therefore, 
and  in  the  rest  of  this  essay  I  shall  speak 
only  of  versions  in  double  rhymes. 

The  chief  requisite  of  a  translation  is  that 
it  conform  to  the  rules  of  its  own  lan- 
guage, while  it  exhibits  the  spirit,  as  well  as 
the  sense  of  the  original.  This  is  expressed 
well  by  Jowett  in  his  second  edition  of  Plato  : 
ct  It  may  seem  a  truism  to  assert  that  an  Eng- 
lish translation  must  have  a  distinct  meaning, 
and  must  be  English.  Its  object  is  not 
merely  to  render  the  words  of  one  language 
into  the  words  of  another,  but  to  produce  an 
impression  similar,  or  nearly  similar,  to  that 
of  the  original  on  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
It  should  be  rhythmical  and  varied,  and, 
above  all,  equable  in  style.  It  should  in 
some  degree,  at  least,  retain  the  characteristic 
qualities  of  the  ancient  writer,  his  freedom, 


THE     DIES     IR^.  9 

grace,  simplicity,  stateliness,  weight,  precis- 
ion ;  or  the  best  part  of  him  will  be  lost  to  the 
English  reader.  It  should  read  as  an  original 
work,  and  should  also  be  the  most  faithful 
transcript  which  can  be  made  of  the  language 
from  which  the  translation  is  taken,  consis- 
tently with  the  first  requirement  of  all,  that  it 
be  English."  Specially  in  the  translation  of  a 
poem  should  the  feeling  of  the  original,  as 
well  as  the  form,  be  preserved.  It  is  small 
praise  to  say  that  it  is  literal,  for  it  may  be 
this,  and  still  not  rise  above  the  dignity  of 
prose. 

But  the  difficulties  which  attend  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Dies  Irae  into  English,  while 
adhering  to  its  proper  form,  are  so  great  that 
he  who  undertakes  the  task  is  constantly 
tempted  either  to  violate  the  laws  of  our 
language,  or  to  sacrifice  the  spirit  of  the 
original  in  order  to  conform  to  the  letter. 
The  faults  into  which  he  is  most  liable  to  fall 
are  the  following : 


IO  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

I.  His  sentences  may  be  incomplete,  if 
not  ungrammatical.  The  version  of  the  late 
General  John  A.  Dix  is  perhaps  more  nearly 
literal  than  any  other  in  double  rhymes  ;  but 
it  presents  several  instances  of  this  defect. 
I  quote  the  first  and  the  seventeenth  stanzas 
as  examples : 

Day  of  vengeance,  lo  !    that  morning 
On  the  earth  in  ashes  dawning, 
David  with  the  Sibyl  warning. 

Low  in  supplication  bending, 

Heart  as  though  with  ashes  blending, 

Care  for  me  when  all  is  ending. 

I    may    instance    also    the    third    stanza    of 
Perie  : 

Then  shall  trumpet,  widely  sounding, 
From  their  graves,  with  noise  astounding, 
Call  the  dead,  the  throne  surrounding. 


THE     DIES     IRJE.  II 

II.  Still  another  defect  is  that  of  construc- 
tions which,  though  not  strictly  incorrect, 
strike  the  reader  as  makeshifts.  Dix,  had 
he  been  writing  a  thought  of  his  own  in 
English  verse,  could  not  have  cast  it  in  this 
form  : 

Death  and  Nature,   mazed,  are  quaking, 
When,  the  grave's  deep  slumber  breaking, 
Man  to  judgment  is  awaking. 

Nor  could  Peri&  have  said  : 

Ah,  what  trembling,  ah,  what  fearing, 
When  the  upright  Judge  appearing, 
Will  from  doubt  be  all  things  clearing. 

Nor  could  Rev.  William  R.  Williams,  D.  D., 
have  expressed  himself  thus  : 

Ah  that  day  !    that  day  of  weeping  ! 
When,   in  dust  no  longer  sleeping, 
Man  to  God  in  guilt  is  going  :  — 
Lord,  be,  then,  thy  mercy  showing. 


12  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

The  fault  of  the  last  line  in  each  of  these 
stanzas  is  evident. 

III.  A  not  uncommon  defect  is  the  trans- 
ferrence  of  some  idiom  peculiar  to  the  Latin 
language.  The  versions  of  Abraham  Coles, 
M.  D.,  are  admirable  for  their  vigor  of 
expression,  but  they  afford  several  instances 
in  point : 

Trumpet,   scattering  sounds  of  wonder, 
Rending  sepulchers  asunder, 
Shall  resistless  summons  thunder. 

Book,  where  actions  are  recorded, 

All  the  ages  have  afforded, 

Shall  be  brought  and  dooms  awarded. 

Had  the  writer  been  composing  an  English 
poem,  it  would  not  have  occurred  to  him  to 
omit  the  definite  article  when  speaking  of  the 
trumpet  and  the  book.  The  exigencies  of 
translation  alone  induced  him  so  to  strain  the 
rules  of  English  composition. 


THE     DIES     IR^E.  13 

IV.  Another  fault  is  that  of  rhymes  so 
imperfect  as  not  to  be  allowable.  Almost 
all  the  versions  contain  them.  The  first 
stanza  of  Dix  has  been  cited  already  as  an 
instance  of  defective  grammar ;  but  it  is 
equally  defective  in  rhyme  : 

Day  of  vengeance,  lo  !    that  morning 
On  the  earth  in  ashes  dawning, 
David  with  the  Sibyl  warning. 

The  version  of  Williams  is  one  of  the  best, 
and  if  I  cite  his  ninth  and  seventeenth  stanzas 
as  instances  under  this  head,  it  is  not  because 
I  fail  to  appreciate  his  work  as  a  whole  : 

Jesus,  Lord,  my  plea  let  this  be, 

Mine  the  wo  that  brought  from  bliss  Thee  ; 

On  that  day,  Lord,  wilt  Thou  miss  me  ? 

Bowed  and  prostrate  hear  me  crying  ; 
Heart  in  dust  before  Thee  lying : 
Lord,  my  end,  O  be  Thou  nigh  in. 


14  THE     DIES     ITLJE. 

V.  The  difficulty  of  finding  double  rhymes 
in  English  has  led  almost  all  the  transla- 
tors to  make  a  very  free  use  of  the  present 
participle.  But  the  frequent  repetition  of 
rhymes  formed  in  this  manner  wearies  the  ear. 
Indeed,  I  am  convinced  that  two  stanzas  end- 
ing thus  should  never  be  permitted  to  come 
together.  How  hard  it  is  to  observe  this  rule 
may  be  learned  by  a  glance  at  the  versions. 
The  first  six  stanzas  of  Dix  have  lines  termin- 
ating uniformly  in  the  present  participle,  as 
have  the  first  three  of  Williams.  In  the  ad- 
mirable translation  of  W.  J.  Irons  this  fault 
has  been  wholly  avoided,  and  it  is  less  con- 
spicuous in  the  translations  of  Coles  than  in 
many  others. 

VI.  In  their  desire  to  preserve  the  double 
rhymes  and  the  fascinating  measure  of  the 
Latin  hymn,  the  translators  have  been  almost 
compelled  to  employ  words  unsuited  to  se- 
rious poetry,  like  "compensation"  and  " nuga- 
tory"  in   the  following  stanzas  from    Coles  : 


THE     DIES     IR^E.  15 

Awful  Monarch  of  Creation  ! 
Saving  without  compensation, 
Save  me,  Fountain  of  Salvation  ! 

Thou,  the  Lord  of  Life  and  Glory, 
Hung' st  a  victim  gashed  and  gory  : 
Let  not  all  be  nugatory. 

VII.  Another  defect  arises  from  the  effort 
to  find  in  English  an  equivalent  for  every 
phrase  of  the  Latin,  so  that  to  this  end  rhyme 
and  accent  are  sacrificed.  The  false  rhyme 
of  Dix  in  his  first  stanza,  which  I  have  already 
cited,  was  tolerated  in  order  to  make  a  place 
for  the  "David  cum  Sibylla"  of  the  original. 
The  "Deus"  of  the  last  stanza  has  betrayed 
many  translators  into  faulty  accent.  Peri& 
halts  thus  : 

Oh  God,  spare  him,  we  implore  Thee  ! 

A  defect  still  more  serious  may  be  classed 
under  the  same   head,  since  it  is  owing  to  the 


1 6  THE     DIES     IRJE. 

same  motive.  Not  infrequently  the  chief 
thought  of  the  stanza  is  obscured  in  order  to 
preserve  a  semblance  of  some  word  or  epithet 
which  is  not  absolutely  essential  to  the  argu- 
ment. In  the  first  two  stanzas  the  author 
sketches  in  graphic  lines  the  larger  features 
of  the  scene,  the  burning  world  and  the  quak- 
ing multitudes,  without  regard  to  the  succes- 
sion of  events.  In  the  following  three,  the 
order  is  observed,  and  the  blast  of  the  trumpet, 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  appearing  of 
the  book,  and  the  enthronement  of  the  Judge, 
are  painted  in  awful  colors.  The  soul  now 
finds  itself  in  vision  before  the  bar  where  even 
the  righteous  tremble,  and  casts  about  for 
some  source  of  hope.  The  approach  of  de- 
spair is  checked,  as  the  eyes  fall  on  the  King 
Himself,  who  is  also  the  Savior  ;  and  the  next 
three  stanzas  plead  His  passion  as  a  ground 
of  mercy.  In  the  eleventh  stanza  the  writer 
reflects  that  in  fact  he  is  still  in  the  flesh,  that 


+        THE      DIES     IP.JE  17 

the  perils  in  which  in  imagination  he  had 
placed  himself  have  not  yet  appeared,  and 
that  when  they  shall  come  it  will  be  too  late 
for  prayer  ;  he  therefore  asks  for  pardon  be- 
fore the  end  of  time,  which  is  to  be  the  end  of 
probation.  In  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and 
fourteenth  stanzas,  he  confesses  his  sins,  and  ex- 
presses his  confidence  in  divine  grace.  In  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  his  fancy  recurs  to  the 
terrors  which  had  filled  it  in  the  beginning, 
though  not  with  the  same  degree  of  pain.  In 
the  seventeenth  stanza  we  have,  apparently, 
an  instance  of  that  curious  facility  with 
which  all  believers  associate  death  and  the 
Second  Advent  of  Christ ;  the  suppliant  begs 
for  divine  assistance  in  the  closing  hours  of 
life,  as  if  these  were  to  be  the  closing 
hours  of  the  whole  earth,  the  period  to 
which  he  had  looked  forward  with  such 
apprehension.  In  the  last  stanza  he  remem- 
bers   once   more  the  human  race  risen  from 


l8  THE     DIES     IR^S, 

the  grave  to  receive  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body,  and  he  beseeches  God  to  spare  the 
guilty. 

Such  is  the  current  of  this  passionate 
prayer.  But  in  our  translations,  the  sub- 
sidiary thoughts  with  which  it  is  associated 
may  become  so  prominent  as  to  hide  the 
stream  that  they  were  intended  only  to  adorn. 
The  versions  of  the  seventeenth  stanza 
present  numerous  instances.  The  feeling  is 
that  of  a  soul  contrite  in  view  of  sin  ;  and  it 
is  represented  by  the  bowed  form  and  the 
heart  crushed  as  ashes.  Poe  says:  "We 
should  so  render  the  original  that  the  version 
should  impress  the  people  for  whom  it  is 
intended,  just  as  the  original  impressed  the 
people  for  whom  it  was  intended. "  No 
other  rule  for  the  translator  can  be  given. 
And  if  he  conforms  to  it  he  will  be  more 
solicitous  to  express  with  adequate  emotion 
the  penitence  with  which   this  stanza  is  bur- 


THE     DIES     IR^E.  19 

dened.  than  to  find  some  faint  likeness  of 
its  mere  verbiage.  But  in  these  lines  of 
Coles,  the  thought  is  forgotten  in  order  that 
language  distantly  resembling  the  Latin  may 
be  employed  : 

I  beseech  Thee,  prostrate  lying, 
Heart  as  ashes,  contrite,  sighing, 
Care  for  me  when  I  am  dying  ! 

The  'k crushed  heart"  of  the  original  has  a 
definite  meaning,  which  is  only  concealed  by 
the  i4 heart  as  ashes"  of  the  version,  a  phrase 
that  conveys  no  thought  whatever.  There  is 
equally  little  signification  in  the  rendering 
of  Dix  : 

Heart  as  though  with  ashes  blending. 

Another  example  is  the  ''humbly  creeping' 
of  P£rie  : 


20  THE     DIES     IR^. 

Suppliant  and  humbly  creeping, 

Heart  with  anguish  wrung  and  weeping, 

Have  me  in  Thy  holy  keeping  ! 

It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  suppose  that  I 
had  overcome  all  the  difficulties  which  have 
proved  so  serious  to  others.  This  study  of 
their  labors  admonishes  me  that  many  defects 
will  be  found  in  my  own.  Perhaps  the  Dies 
Irae  will  not  take  a  permanent  place  among 
English  hymns  till  some  one  shall  choose  from 
the  many  translations  the  best  stanzas  of  each, 
and  shall  weave  his  selections  together.  I 
venture  to  hope,  as  the  utmost  height  of  my 
anticipation,  that  when  such  a  final  version 
shall  appear,  a  few  of  my  lines  may  be  found 
in  it. 


dies  ir^:. 

Dies  ine,   dies   ilia  ! 

Sol  vet  saeclum   in  favilla, 

Teste  David  cum   vSibvlla. 

Quantus  tremor  est  futurus, 
Qiiando  Judex  est  venturus. 
Cuncta  striate  discussurus  ! 

Tuba  minim  spargens  sonum 
Per  sepulchra  regionum, 
Coget  omnes  ante  thronum. 

Mors  stupebit.   et  Natura, 
Quum  resurget  creatura 
Judicanti   responsura. 

Liber  scriptus  proferetur, 
In  quo  totum  continetur, 

Unde  mundus  judicetur. 


22  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

Judex  ergo  quum   sedebit, 
Quidquid  latet  apparebit, 
Nil  inultum  remanebit. 

Quid  sum  miser  tunc  dicturus? 
Quern  patronum  rogaturus, 
Quum  vix  Justus  sit  securus? 

Rex  tremendae  majestatis, 
Qui  salvandos  salvas  gratis, 
Salva  me,  fons  pietatis. 

Recordare,  Jesu  pie. 
Quod  sum  causa  tuae  viae  : 
Ne  me  perdas  ilia  die. 

Quasrens  me  sedisti  lassus  ; 
Redemisti  crucem  passus  ; 
Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus. 

Juste  Judex  ultionis, 
Donum  fac  remissionis 
Ante  diem  rationis. 


THE     DIES     IR.E. 

Ingemisco  tanquam  reus  : 
Culpa  rubet  vultus  meus  ; 
Supplicant!  parce,   Deus. 

Qui  Mariam  absolvisti, 
Et  latronem   exaudisti. 
Mihi  quoque   spem   dedisti. 

Preces  meae  non  sunt  dignae, 
Sed  tu  bonus  fac  benigne. 
Xe  perenni  cremer  igne. 

Inter  oves  locum  praesta. 
Et  ab  haedis  me   sequestra. 
Statuens  in  parte  dextra. 

Confutatis  maledictis. 
Flammis  acribus  addictis. 
Voca  me  cum  benedictis. 

Oro  supplex  et  acclinis. 
Cor  contritum  quasi  cinis, 
Gere  curam  mei  finis. 


24  THE     DIES     IRJE. 

Lachrymosa  dies  ilia. 
Qua  resurget  ex  favilla 
Judicandus  homo  reus  ; 
Huic  ergo  parce,  Deus  ! 


DAY  OF   WRATH. 

Day  of  wrath,  that  day  of  burning  ! 
Earth  shall  end.   to  ashes  turning  : 
Thus  sin£  Saint  and   Seer   discerning. 

r-pireft  shall  quake  both  high  and  lowly 

A 

When  the  Judge  shall  come,  most  holy. 
Strict  to  search  all  sin  and  folly  ! 

Then   is  heard  a  sound  of  wonder: 
Might}'  blasts  of  trumpet-thunder 
Rend   the   seoulchers  asunder  . 


'er  tha,t  woe   resemble 
tare  even  dealh  and  natur 
As  the  rising  throngs  a 

Vg^in,  ay  soul,  is  all  eoncealin 
r   the  boo^    is   brought,    revealing 
ery  deed  and  thought  and  feeling 


26  THE     DIES     IR^ 

Thereupon,  the  Judge  is  seated, 
And  our  sins  are  loud  repeated, 
And  to  each  is  vengeance  meted. 

Wretched  me  !   How  gain  a  hearing, 
Where  the  righteous  falter,  fearing, 
At  the  pomp  of  His  appearing? 

King  of  majesty  and  splendor, 
Fount  of  pity,  true  and  tender, 
Be,  Thyself,   my  strong  defender. 

From  Thy  woes  my  hope  I  borrow  : 
I  did  cause  Thy  way  of  sorrow  : 
Do  not  lose  me  on  that  morrow. 

Seeking  me.  Thou  weary  sankest. 

Nor  from  scourge  and  cross  Thou  shrankest ; 

Make  not  vain  the  cup  Thou  drankest. 

Thou  wert  righteous  even  in  slaying  ; 
Yet  forgive  my  guilty  straying, 
Now,  before  that  day  dismaying. 


THE     DIES     IR^E.  27 

Though  my  sins  with  shame  suffuse  me. 
Though  my  very  moans  accuse  me. 
Canst  Thou.   Loving  One,   refuse  me! 

Blessed  hope  !   I  have  aggrieved  Thee  : 
Yet,  by  grace,   the  Thief  believed  Thee. 
And  the  Magdalen  received  Thee. 

Though   unworthy   my  petition. 
Grant  me  full  and  free  remission. 
And  redeem   me  from  perdition. 

Be  my   lot  in   love  decreed  me  : 
From   the  goats  in   safety   lead   me  : 
With  Thy  sheep  forever  feed  me. 

When  Thy  foes  are  all  confounded. 
And  with  bitter  flames  surrounded. 
Call  me  to  Thy  bliss  unbounded. 

From  the  dust.  I  pray  Thee,  hear  me  : 
When  my  end  shall  come,  be  near  me  ; 
Let  Thy  grace  sustain  and  cheer  me. 


28  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

Ah,  that  day,  that  day  of  weeping. 
When,  no  more  in  ashes  sleeping, 
Man  shall  rise  and  stand  before  Thee  ! 
Spare  him,  spare  him,  I  implore  Thee. 


NOTES     ON     SOME     OF     THE 
STANZAS. 

The  First. 

Several  translators  have  sought  to  preserve 
in  English  the  "favilla"  and  the  "David 
cum  Sibylla "  of  the  original.  But  little 
success  has  attended  these  efforts,  as  they 
have  required  a  too  costly  sacrifice  of  grace. 
of  grammar  and  of  rhyme.  The  following, 
from  the  first  version  of  Coles,  is  perhaps  the 
best  that  can  be  done  with  "  favilla  :" 

Dav  of  prophecy  !    It  flashes, 
Falling  spheres  together  dashes. 
And  the  world  consumes  to  ashes. 

In    the    first    edition    of   his    Dies    Ira?.   Dix 
presented  a  translation  of  this  stanza  which. 


30  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

for  its  high  finish,  its  delicate  suggestion  of 
the  antique,  and  its  perfection  of  form, 
has   never   been  surpassed : 

Day  of  vengeance,  without  morrow  ! 
Earth  shall  end  in  flame  and  sorrow, 
As  from  Saint  and  Seer  we  borrow. 

His  desire  to  make  a  place  for  "  David  cum 
Sibylla"  was  one  of  the  motives  which 
induced  him  to  discard  these  elegant  lines, 
for  this  dreadful  substitute  : 

Day  of  vengeance,  lo  !    that  morning 
On  the  earth  in  ashes  dawning, 
David  with  the  Sibyl  warning. 

After  much  study,  I  have  been  forced,  in 
common  with  the  majority  of  the  translators, 
to  content  myself  with  a  paraphrase. 


the    dies    irje.  3 1 

The  Sixth. 

My  sixth  stanza  is  somewhat  like  that  of 
Williams,  quoted  below.  The  lines  had 
escaped  my  memory  when  my  own  were 
written.  I  trust  that  the  differences  are  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  me  in  retaining  ray  version. 

Now  the  Sovran  Judge  is  seated  : 
All,  long  hid,   is  loud  repeated  ; 
Xaught  escapes  the  judgment  meted. 

The  Ninth. 

In  my  translation  I  use  the  word  "  mor- 
row" in  its  well-recognized  sense  of  morning. 

This  stanza  is  one  of  the  easiest  to  render 
literally  in  single  rhymes  : 

O  remember.   Lord.   I    pray, 
It  was  I  that  caused  Thy  way  : 

Do  not  lose  me  on  that  day. 


32  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

But  no  stanza  resists  more  stubbornly  the 
effort  to  translate  it  in  double  rhymes.  The 
difficulty  arises  in  part  from  the  obscurity  of 
the  language,  which  has  no  precise  meaning 
for  the  ordinary  Protestant  reader,  and  hence 
needs  at  once  to  be  interpreted  and  trans- 
lated. It  may  be  chiefly  for  this  reason  that 
all  the  translators  resort  to  paraphrase. 
What  was  the  "way"  of  Jesus,  which  the 
penitent  declares  that  he  caused  ?  Perie  under- 
stands His  whole  earthly  career  of  humilia- 
tion : 

Bear  in  mind  Thy  pious  mission 
To  redeem  my  lost  condition  : 
Save  me,  Jesus,  from  perdition. 

Thus  also  Coles  in  all  his  versions.  Irons 
looks  rather  at  the  Incarnation,  the  "way" 
into  the  world  : 

Think,  kind  Jesu'  —  my   salvation 
Caused  Thy  wondrous  Incarnation  ; 
Leave  me  not  to  reprobation. 


THE     DIES     IR-E.  33 

Dix  appears  to  have  in  view  the  last  sad 
moments  of  our  Lord's  earthly  career,  though 
his  language  is  not  definite  : 

Jesus,   think  of  Thy  wayfaring, 

For  mv  sins  the  death-crown   wearing  ; 

Save  me.   in  that  day,   despairing. 

To  a  Romanist  the  signification  is  clear.  He 
has  heard  much  of  the  "via  dolorosa," 
through  which  our  Savior  bore  His  cross. 
A  street  in  Jerusalem  is  still  known  by  the 
name,  and  legend  points  it  out  as  that  along 
which  He  took  His  weary  way  to  die  for  us. 
The  stations  in  the  church,  where  the  Ro- 
manist pauses  to  pray,  have  pictures  repre- 
senting this  journey.  To  the  Romanist  the 
"way"  of  Christ  is  a  conception  as  definite 
as  is  His  "cup"  to  the  Protestant.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  Thomas  de  Celano  was  think- 
ing of  the  "via  dolorosa"  when  lie  wrote  the 
hvmn.  and  that  he  considered  it  a  symbol  of  all 


34  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

the  sufferings  which  the  Son  of  God  endured. 
In  my  version  I  have  sought  to  preserve  this 
thought,  though  at  some  sacrifice  of  the  first 
line. 

But  there  is  another  source  of  obscurity. 
What  is  the  argument  urged  in  the  stanza? 
It  is  not  expressed  fully.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  presented  in  the  forms  of  logic  somewhat 
as  follows,  though  in  my  version  I  have  cho- 
sen to  adhere  more  closely  to  the  disjointed 
structure  of  the  original : 

It  was  I  that  caused  Thy  sorrow, 
Therefore  save  me  on  that  morrow. 

I  will  add  that  I  have  been  inclined  at 
times  to  prefer  the  following,  though  it  is  a 
paraphrase  rather  than  a  translation  : 

Mine  the  woe  that  hither  drew  Thee  : 
Mine  the  sin  that  pierced  and  slew  Thee  : 
Mine  be  hope  and  mercy  through  Thee. 


THE     DIES     IRjE.  35 


The  Tenth. 

There  are  no  finer  lines  in  any  ver- 
sion than  the  following,  by  Williams,  equal- 
ly excellent  as  a  translation  of  the  Latin,  and 
as  a  stanza  of  an  English  hymn  : 

Wearily  for  me  Thou  soughtest ; 

On  the  cross  my  soul  Thou  boughtest ; 

Lose  not  all  for  which  Thou  wroughtest. 

The  first  line  of  my  version  is  identical 
with  that  of  Coles  ;  but  as  a  whole  mine  is 
different  from  his,  and.  I  think,  more  nearly 
literal.     He  renders  the  stanza  thus  : 

Seeking  me  Thou  weary   sankest. 
All  my  cup  of  trembling  d rankest, 
Full  of  reddest  wrath  and  rankest. 


36  the    dies    ir^e, 

The    Thirteenth. 

The  following  is  almost  literal.  I  should 
have  inserted  it  in  the  text  of  my  version, 
were  it  not  for  the  word  shrive,  to  which 
there  are  objections.  First,  it  is  a  sectarian 
term,  and  is  used  in  general  with  reference 
to  the  Romish  Church  ;  but  the  Dies  Irae  is 
singularly  free  from  everything  peculiar  to 
the  communion  of  which  its  author  was  a 
member.  Second,  it  means,  according  to 
the  dictionaries,  "to  confess"  a  person,  and 
thus  covers  a  wider  ground  than  that  of  mere 
forgiveness,  though  it  includes  this.  In  our 
later  Protestant  literature  it  is  employed  fre- 
quently as  a  synonym  of  "pardon,"  "absolve," 
where  the  confessional  is  mentioned  ;  but 
since  the  lexicographers  do  not  recognize  the 
validity  of  this  restricted  use,  I  cannot  follow 
it  without  misgiving.  Though  the  stanza 
must  be  condemned  on  these  grounds,  I  think 


THE     DIES     IR^E.  37 

it  sufficiently  accurate  as  a  translation,  and 
sufficiently  rhythmical,  to  merit  a  place  in 
these  notes  : 

He  by  whom  the  Thief  was  shriven 
And  the  Magdalen  forgiyen 
Grants  to  me  the  hope  of  Heaven. 

The    Seventeenth. 

Does  "inei  finis"  refer  to  death,  or  to  the  last 
day,  as  the  end  of  the  trial  which  the  suppli- 
ant, in  common  with  all  men.  is  undergoing? 
The  difficulty  of  preserving  in  English  the 
exact  words  "my  end,"  lias  led  the  larger 
number  of  translators  to  resort  to  paraphrase, 
in  which  thev  attempt  to  interpret  the  mean- 
ing, some  taking  one  side  of  the  question 
which  I  have  asked,  and  some  the  other. 
I  have  preferred  to  make  a  close  translation, 
that  the  English  reader  may  form  his  own 
judgment.      I    might   treat   the   expression   as 


$8  THE     DIES     IR^E. 

referring  to  death,  however,  with  equal  facil- 
ity, as  in  the  following  lines  : 

In  the  dust  behold  me  lying, 
While  my  broken  heart  is  sighing 
For  Thy  love  when  I  am  dying. 

If  anyone  prefers  the  other  view,  it  may  be 
presented  in  this  manner  : 

In  the  dust  behold  me  bending  ; 
Hear  my  sighs  to  Thee  ascending ; 
Comfort  me  when  all  is    ending. 


